Detection of Plasmodium falciparum infection in Anopheles stephensi in Punjab,Pakistan

In understanding the transmission dynamics in area-specific malaria epidemiological studies,the determination of plasmodium sporozoite infection rate in the field caught anopheles mosquitoes remains an integral component. in present study the plasmodium falciparum (p. falciparum) sporozoite infection rate of female anopheles stephensi (an. stephensi) mosquitoes caught from districts kasur and shiekupura,province punjab was detected. a nested polymerase chain reaction (nested pcr) was used to amplify 205 bp dna of a small subunit ribosomal rna (ssu rrna) gene specific to p. falciparum from field caught an. stephensi. the p. falciparum sporozoite infection rate was higher,i.e. 10% in an. stephensi from district shiekhupura followed by 6% sporozoite infection rate in mosquitoes collected from district kasur. these results may contribute to plan and assess malaria control strategies in punjab,pakistan. copyright 2015 zoological society of pakistan.